"washington journal." and live coverage of the funeral of former presidential candidates george mcgovern. in 45 minutes we will focus on this year's campaign in wisconsin. our guests are craig gilbert, and mikehimming, tate. we will also look and housing policy and home construction at 9:15 eastern with raemeka mayo of the census bureau and a representative from the fiscal times. host: good morning, october 26. president obama and mitt romney are on target to raise $1

billion each with their respective parties by election day. more recent numbers show romney outraising the president in early october. if the washington post endorsed president obama today even with their eyes open to the disappointment of his time in office, it says. a clear politics survey shows mitt romney with a 0.9% edge. a new associated press poll shows at the same time mitt romney has erased president obama's support among women, the president has eliminated romney's support among men. our first 45 minutes this morning takes a look at gender issues when it comes to voting, specifically whether your gender affects the way you vote. if you want to tell us why, you can do so on one of three lines this morning, all starting with the 202 area code that.

-- code. if you want to reach out to us on social media, you can send us a tweet or send us an e-mail. or contact us on facebook. here's the associated press poll. this is from out of washington. it says --

joining us to talk about the details particularly the gender aspects, this is jennifer, the associated press deputy director of polling. welcome. guest: thank you. but host: what information was used when it comes to denver in particular? guest: the poll does a random sample of adults. we tried to identify likely voters in that group. women likely voters compared with women likely voters in our september poll which was conducted before the debates occurred. we asked them who they planned to vote for in november and we noticed a big swing. i think a lot of it seems to

stem from shifting views among women on the economy. mitt romney has gained great ground among women as being the candidate more trusted to move the economy. president obama had a 56% to 40% advantage of that question in november. now 45% trust obama among women. a renewedays there's focus on social issues which would be on welcome it -- would be an unwelcome development from the romney. when you factor in the social aspects, what you are finding as far as the shrinking of the gender gap. guest: this poll was completed entirely before richard mourdock's comments which brought the issues back to the

forefront. the advantage the president has among women on that question over romney to make the right decision on women's issues, that holds true among men as well. 51% of men say they trust obama on those issues and only 40% trust romney. this could be a problem across the board for mitt romney. host: did the poll had a chance for those taking it to offer specifics of why it particularly when it comes to gender issues? guest: really it's just that particular question. throughout the year when we ask questions on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, the president has a really big advantage over mitt romney. it is just one of his strong points, generally. host: can you talk as far as historically how the gender gap is factored into elections and especially who is leading that?

guest: there is typically a gender gap where women tend to support the democratic candidate more so than the republican. that has been true in national elections according to exit polls back to 1980. this poll, we showed women split evenly, 47 to 47 . men broke 42% to obama and 47% for zeromney. a small gap like that has happened in previous years and women have split evenly between the democrats and republicans, notably in 2004 between al gore and george w. bush. and in 1988, which was a much bigger win for republicans, the women were spread evenly between michael dukakis and george bush. host: who was pulled and tell us about the way you gathered opinions? guest: we do all of our

interview by telephone of adults. we include a plan like and sell phones in that sampling -- which include land lines and cellular phone spirit host: thanks for your time in helping us understand. the findings at up first on whether your gender impacts your vote, it's jerry. caller: good morning, pedro. i think it does impact the vote. especially myself being an african-american male, issues ,ike civil rights civ choice, gun-control, church and state, that affects men of color in particular. in the case of civil rights issues, i really don't think in my personal opinion that a straight white conservative men

are concerned about what affects racial minorities the most. host: have you about these gender issues in the past whether on a local or national level? caller: yes, i have. particularly men of color are affected more than white men. in my opinion, it quite conservative men have never been concerned about what affects people of color the most, the civil rights issues, things of that nature. host: what do you think about the information we heard from our guests about the gender gaps shrinking on both sides? caller: i have heard about that throughout this election from time to time. you know, it might swing from

white men in particular towards mitt romney, because i think they are afraid of the changing face of america. host: this on twitter -- linda is up next on our independent line from oak park, illinois. caller: good morning, pedro. i just want to say that i am a female african american. i have raised four children. if we are talking about candidates being concerned with women or appearing to be concerned with women, i am not concerned with that. i probably think like a man.

i am not concerned about abortion and all of these things. i am concerned about the economy, national security, immigration, and the biggest thing i am concerned about is the young people. no one is talking about the young people. they are talking about senior citizens. everyone accepts the people who are going to run this country, the young people. we need to put more emphasis on the young people. both candidates need to do that, because these are the people that are going to run the country, not the old people with all of their baggage from the 1950's and 1960's, but the young people. they don't have an advantage. host: republican line, mobile, alabama, betty. caller: good morning. the gender issues don't bother me. i'm not impacted by that. my thing is i believe the best person -- excuse me, i cannot

hear you. host: i did not say anything. go ahead. caller: give me a few minutes. as a black person, i am so tired of black people calling in and blaming their problems on the white man. pardon me? host: you said gender is not concerned garret. caller: gender is not a concern. what's going on with the women? i am looking for a person that is strong. as far as birth control is concerned, maybe i misinterpreted what you said. i am not impacted by whether a person is male or female. i am concerned about the person

that has the credentials. it appears that mitt romney is the only one with the credentials to get this country in order. let me tell you this. obama has never run a lemonade stand in his life. compared to mr. romney's credentials, his credentials are just outstanding. host: as far as the associated press poll shows, the gender gap exists on both sides but the shrinking for both candidates. we are asking as far as you are concerned out there about your gender impacting your votes and what you think. the phone lines are available as well as facebook, e-mail, and twitter. the center for women and politics at rutgers university did a survey on previous contests to see how men and women voted. in 2008, president obama had

-- patricia from middletown, connecticut, democratic line. caller: are you. i don't think those polls are getting everybody, because on

some parts it is realistic, but they're not getting everybody. host: why? caller: they have not been conducting the polls in my area, so they're not coming to people's areas and really pulling them. -- polling. they're getting random people and not the whole united states. host: so you don't buy the idea that the gender gap is shrinking on both sides? caller: no. the reality is they are just what? tha host: as far as men or women supporting the candidates? caller: they are just throwing out a number. host: mary is calling from our independent line from virginia, an independent scholar. -- caller. caller: gender does not matter.

it is the credentials. they are saying romney took jobs overseas. bain capital did that when romney was not even there. he was at the olympics. for the gentleman that said white men don't really care about black folks and what their needs are, obama has had the ability since taking office to open 7 million jobs and he prefers to protect illegal workers. so you tell me who's side he's on? it is certainly not blacks, whites, or anybody in this country illegally. 7 million jobs. it has nothing to do with comprehensive immigration reform. we have laws in this country right now that say you cannot work here illegally. all obama has to do is enforce the laws. host: as a woman, mary, do issues matter, issues of women,

do they matter to you specifically? caller: the fact is they're not going to ban abortions or these other things. orma's own campaign manager one of his spokespeople flat out said that if the other site were supposedly doing false ads, they would not do theirs. they blatantly admitted that their advertising was lying. so i wish people would stop believing the nonsense coming out of the obama administration. host: suzanne is on the republican line from florida. caller: good morning. i like some of the comments i've been hearing and have been waiting on the phone. i think i want to back up that gender i don't think it's playing a big part for me, because i feel like i am a

registered democrat who is voting republican. i did not vote for obama in 2008. i agree with the last couple callers. i'm looking at who is the best qualified, who has the record of creating jobs in this country. we are small business and have been for 25 years. the last two years have been the hardest. we never imagined we would be looking at the situations we are looking at right now. our son and son-in-law both have small businesses. they have been affected greatly. so we are looking at those kinds of things in this election. women's issues are very important, but i don't expect the federal government to take care of that for us. host: what is chief among the list of women's issues that are important for you? caller: i think all rights for women. but they talked about athe abortion situation.

we're not going to go backwards in this country. we have been through the suffrage movement and i am not concerned about someone coming in. we have a checks and balances government. i feel very comfortable that if we put some of these rights into the state's hands instead of the federal government handling everything, that we can begin to see the balance we need, so small businesses can thrive, the developed. developed.e i am totally in support of mitt romney. i am not concerned about the negative ads against him. i want to see jobs created. i want to see more take-home pay and less taxes. there's a balance for a small business. so i'm excited about the election, more excited than i have been in many years spirit host: up next on our question about whether your gender

impacts your vote, this is dallas, texas on the democratic line, ina. caller: i'm a 88-year-old woman who lived through the depression and saw what it was like before we had social security and medicare. people inbred lines. we lived on a farm, so we managed to survive. my problem with the republican party is they have not been for the people. were in bread lines during the depression. i'm so angry with the republican party. for one of them to say that god me on. rape, cojm i belong to a group of women called democratic divas and we travel all over.

host: as far as the gender impacting people, what do you think about that overall as far as the process of deciding who to vote for as president? caller: any woman who would vote for the republican party would be out of their minds. why would you do that? we fought too long and hard for this. host: the comments of indiana republican richard mourdock still in the newes. his r remarks ape continuing to shape the political world. -- his remarks about rape .

>> i don't think any male politician should be making health care decisions for women after what we have seen this week. [cheers and applause] i don't think your boss or your insurance company should be making those decisions for you either. i believe women are capable and should make their own health care decisions for themselves [cheers and applause] law's why the health care repast puts the choice in your hands, where they belong. that's where they ought to stay as long as i'm president of united states of america. host: on twitter --

tim is joining us from falls church, virginia, independent line. caller: as a man, i am thankful i can empathize with women. i cannot imagine a harder job than being a mother with a house full of kids or a car full of kids, just managing day-to-day economically with time management. i worry about the silver spoon factor, that mitt romney grew up with nannies, maids, butler's. raising his sons, i don't think any romney went through -- ann romney went through the pain and empathetic life that barack obama did. i think he understands the plight of ordinary people struggling. try to carrym not favor with women, but i cannot

imagine having a tougher job than having a few kids and try to manage a career and a household. and barack obama, i just think, is psychologically better suited to empathize with average americans. host: deborah is from ohio, on the republican line. caller: good morning, how are you? this gender warfare, class warfare, financial position, i have never seen in any presidential campaign where this has been such -- both candidates have just divided this country like i have never seen. i think it is disgraceful. host: divided when it comes to gender issues?

caller: when it comes to all issues. gender, race, your economic position. i honest to goodness, i've never seen anything like it in all the presidential elections i have gone through. i have never seen anything like how divided people are in this country according to what they think their class or economic situation. i think it is disgraceful. i really do. you see all of these polls where obama gets most of the black vote and romney gets most of the white vote. whether or not i will vote for president because he allows me to have the ability to get free birth control, i have never seen anything like this in my life. i think it's a disgrace. host: have these issues impacted your vote?

caller: it never has. i will not get into a wide birth control is not an issue for me or the right to get an abortion is not an issue for me. i think that an individual -- that is an individual's decision. i don't have to enter for someone getting an abortion. "roe versus wade" -- that is never going to be overturned. it just never is. the government trying to take away the right to vote is what that would be like. the government try to take away a woman's right will never happen. if he thinks he's going to get my vote because he is going to allow me to get free birth control pills, i think it's disgraceful. host: i want to show you the comments of mitt romney talking in chesapeake, virginia on

october 17 in which he talked about women's issues and comparing his ability to appeal to american women opposed to president obama. [video] >> this president has failed american women. they suffered in terms of getting jobs and falling into poverty. this president has not helped america's women. as i go across the country and ask women what i can do to help, if what they speak about is help me find a good job or a good job for my spouse and help my kids, make sure my children have a bright future, better schools, and better job opportunities. that's what the women of america are concerned about. dancers are coming from us and not from barack obama. host: this on twitter -- a couple political stories. this is about fundraising,

from the financial times -- and a story from the "new york times" --

taking a look at the vice president, he has adopted in the opinion pages of usa today. here's the headline --

gender is the issue for our next 15 minutes or so, particularly looking at it gender impacts your vote. this from the associated press -- saying that president obama and mitt romney but have erased the gender gap in some areas. caller: gender issues do matter, although i am sorry that they do. from listening to people this morning, i am shocked that no one knows about six. -- -- civics. the next president will probably appoint two supreme court justices. that's how "roe versus wade" could get changed. i am about a 60-year-old woman and i did have an abortion when

it was illegal. i had to travel to different state. it was so horrible. .0 years later the doctors had rips in their outfits and i woke up in a pool of blood. girls traveled from ohio all night to do this. any woman who says that does not matter or in the matter of rape or incest we can have an abortion, they don't know what they are talking about. is a shame that people have no institutional memory and no idea about civics, which is not taught in the schools. the reason the gender issues

matters, investment banker at the table, a construction worker, teacher, and a nurse, and the investment banker grabs the 11 donuts and heads for the door and as the other three people are looking at the one that is left, he says, he's about to steal your doughnut. this is the antipathy and the hatred and the divisiveness that people are seeing in this election, because down here for the scraps. there has never been such income disparity in this country. that is not what people are concentrating on. host: that was tina from new jersey.

an analysis by the pew research center find that democrats are more likely to contribute to president obama's campaign online or through a cell phone. romney's leads donations through mail or in person. caller: good morning, c-span. i hope you give me as much time as the previous caller. the republican party is pro- life. every time people say on the other side, we are pro-choice, you have to answer what that choice is. that choice is in the life of a human being that is separate from the mother in her body going with a new heart beat. people should go to www .abortionknow. the pew research latest poll from ballot is from 2009.

they said 51% of americans are pro-life. only poor -- 42% are pro-choice. finally, the polls are catching up with the gender gap. as far as the fiscal areas, not having credit card that gives you money not to throw away on interest. most states have to balance their budgets. we need it in the federal government, which mr. obama has had trillion dollars deficits. $800 billion a year is being thrown away on interest alone. that does not make any sense. host: what is your list of top issues when it comes to how you will vote? caller: i am the pro-life and i have my own charity. we are offering abortion minded

women money to not kill the babies. we have saved 40 babies already. host: is that your sole voting eshoo? caller: that is one of them. the other one is being federal budget. host: democrat line. caller: i have been a pro-choice voter. my first vote was for jimmy carter. that tells you where i am that - at.am i have always voted democrats because of the choice factor. i am a heterosexual male, and the idea of giving a woman the

position of not having a choice creeks me out, to take away the ability for a woman -- creeps me out, to take away the ability for a woman to make a choice about her own body on nervous me. i will take from me at his word to overturn roe versus wade. the idea of citizens united, having a supreme court today, that could put into effect laws that allow this kind of on indian campaign money going to act -- unending campaign money going to advertising where a few wealthy, super wealthy single individuals can effect our conductions -- i cannot -- our

elections. i cannot imagine a worse decision by the supreme court. if we get liberal justices in there, -- republicans in there, i believe they will overturn roe versus wade. they will take away wittman's rights to be individuals and rights to beomen's individuals and exercise their rights. host: that was robbed in new york. this is john in the carolina. the caller focused on the conduct of organs. men focus on the economy. gender matters. the front page of the new york times today. he improved economy today in the

u.s. immigration from mexico saw an historic low during the worst years of the recession. people started heading back home and continue doing so from 2007 .o 2011 emma's headed north in the first half of 2012 -- immigrants headed north in the first half of 2012 outnumbered those heading back. from sacramento, california on our independent line, the morning. caller: the morning. as far as the gender gap, i want to talk about micro lending, which presupposes that women are the justice the words of the economy because they will turn their investments the with-are be trusted stew -- the trusted

stewards of the economy. where is income one to come from if the bush tax cuts are reversed? what is going to happen if we increase money on defense and all of these promises. where is the return on investment in romney's vision? why is the intelligence of the american people, especially women, being consulted with all of this language of class warfare? it is completely of certification. i wish there was a more egalitarian few -- view of why it is so important to -- host: a look at food prices from a different perspective.

the headline says, u.s. farmers reel from tea prices. much of the u.s. corn and soybean crop had the worst crisis in decades. thailand, turkey, vietnam will increase purchases this year. washington is buying $100 million in pork and $50 million in chickens to help domestic farmers struggling with high meat costs and low we prices. gary, good morning. caller: i would like to tell my pro-life friends and family y i am pro-choice. i have worked moving furniture -- -- why i am -- why i am pro-

choice. i have moved furniture and worked as a handyman. women were more calloused. one mother i know had two legal alcohol syndrome. -- sit on a piece of cardboard 12 hours and do not move more than 1 foot in either direction. i was working 8 feet behind her. one of them turned around and looked at me. i think this is child slavery. i get so emotional. the little kid was a crack hit. he was giving her -- the middle kid was a crack kid. i asked her why she did not get

an abortion and she said because nobody asked me. host: your voting habits. expand on that. caller: i look for the pro- choice candidate. i look for common sense. if people think people will not take advantage of them if they give them an opportunity, they are being naive or simple. i am an eisenhower republican. the eisenhower party is common sense. it is the advancement of humanity. host: gary from sterling, virginia. the washington post gave their endorsement to president obama. spending cuts will take effect january 1 and will not the country back into recession. the president will go a long way toward the success of his

presidency. president obama is in a better position to be that navigator. we come to that judgment with eyes open to disappointment with mr. obama's time in office. patricia is from fairfield, california on the democrat's line. caller: this is not an issue of women's lights. this is an issue of race. rights, this is an issue of race. obama is working with a deficit helped by president bush. give him a chance. look at him because he is a good president. people call him by his first name. they do not even give him the

respect of calling him president obama. this is not a presidential race for the white house. this is a presidential race for the white man to be in the white house. >> our last call this morning from atlanta, georgia. caller: i am calling because i think gender does matter. i am pro-choice. we are in a time now where i have noticed a lot of rights of women are taken away. i cannot believe i've would not have the choice. when people sit pro-life, i say what does that mean. -- when people say pro-life, i said what does that mean. of course i am pro-life. i am alive and i have kids. i want to have a choice. i was always told that real freedom is having more choices. the more options and choices we

have been more free we are as a people. i do not want anyone making choices for me as an individual. i have an issue with someone who will not show me their taxes. that is a trust issue for me. that will go down in history as someone who has only shown one year in taxes. why would you not show that? that is disclosure. but gender does matter and to me. if we have to fight as women just to have rights, the rights can be slowly taken away. host: the next portion of this program today will look at battleground states. we will focus on wisconsin. he series of tests will join us to give us their perspective. craig gilbert is from the

milwaukee journal sentinel. we will have those segments plus more has "washington journal -- as "washington journal" continues. >> we have to have the discussion about political ideology in this country when we talk about progressivism and the history of progressivism and where it comes from. it is easy to talk about communism and marxism. as far as what happened with the comment, someone came up to me and asked me a simple question. how do you feel about the fact that the majority of americans on capitol hill are republicans? there is a propaganda machine out there. i thought we live in america where there was freedom of speech and expression. i will not be afraid of people

because they get upset. >> the reason i decided to run for public office is because of the team is a lovely tea party. at the end of the day, what is your family or your business, you have to do what is best for all americans, for you it is dick, your state, your country. when you -- for your district, your state, your country. when you are spending time calling people communists, there is no way you will be able to reach across the aisle and do what is best for everybody. >> follow the issues and candidates in key house and senate races on c-span radio, c- span, and c-span.org. >> the early going for the americans and the british was not propitious. during the first days of that war after december 7, the

japanese would occupy singapore. they would occupy the philippines, which was an american possession. they were receiving 40% of their oil. they needed that oil to continue the war. they occupy these areas. he americans and the filipinos were not only defeated by the japanese, but humiliated by the japanese. the japanese death march. 17,000 prisoners died. 7000 of them would die in the 70 mile march. the way they were treated was nothing less them to go. this is the real thing. the japanese be headed many of them. pushed many of them into the path of oncoming tanks. many of those american soldiers and the filipinos joined them

die of starvation. this was war in its worst form. americans are not going to forget that. they are going to pay the japanese back. he wore in the pacific who was a racial war. became a racial war. the japanese mistreated the americans and the americans returned the favor. but this weekend on lectures and history, world war ii which gary ostrower on american history tv. "washington journal" continues. host: 10 states in 10 days. we are going to look at that allow states to talk about the political, social and economic factors that will make up issues people consider as they go toward election day. we will focus on the state of wisconsin. craig gilbert is with the

milwaukee journal sentinel and serves as their political reporter. thanks for joining us. to set up this conversation, a couple of facts according to what we have gathered when it comes to the state. we are looking at 10 electoral votes. we are looking at an unemployment rate of 7.3%. he president won reelection with 13.9 percentage points. can we start with the economics of wisconsin? can you elaborate on the unemployment rate and what it means for the state economically and politically? guest: the unemployment rate is below the national rate. our job growth has been slower than the national average, slower than ohio. we have had positive economic

trends, better than the data at the other end of the spectrum. we are in the grey area for president obama. we just had a huge debate over the recall of governor walker, economy and jobs. they were central to that debate. he bottom line is that there is somewhat sluggish jobs growth and a trend in manufacturing. nothing that will disqualify the president or ensure his reelection. host: looking at individual people in wisconsin, how does the state breakdown when it comes to republicans, independents, democrats? guest: wisconsin is a swing state. that is why we are talking about it. it has voted for a democrat for

president since ronald reagan was on the ballot. it is often extremely close and often close to where the country is as a whole. it is the closest thing in the country in 2004. he had a big blowout for president for barack obama in 2008. democrats tended to dominate the u.s. senate election. we had a big republican tidal wave in 2010. if they win the senate seat this november, it will be the first time since the 1950's we have had thought to republican senators. the state swings back and forth between the two parties. host: as far as the math is concerned, what areas of the state trench republican and what areas trent democrat -- what areas of the state trend republican and what areas trends

democrat? guest: the areas for the democrats are routed milwaukee and madison. the classic areas for republicans are in southeastern wisconsin around milwaukee county and heading up along the eastern coast of wisconsin. a lot of wisconsin really does swing. there are counties in northeastern wisconsin around green bay and western wisconsin that swung huge for obama in 2008 and swung back in 2010 and the recall fight in 2012. there were counties that brothel, won signed 10 points and scott -- that barack obama won by 10 points and governor

scott won. those will be counties to watch in northeastern wisconsin and western wisconsin come election day. host: how does early voting factor into election day? guest: early voting is less of a factor in wisconsin than in the world -- the other states. it is technically known as in person absentee vote. the window for early voting is narrower and harder to track because we do not have registration by party. we have to figure out which side is winning the early vote and it is more difficult. i cannot say with confidence who has the advantage in early voting in wisconsin. the early vote will be significant, but it will not be at the level of states like colorado. host: art voters required to

show -- are voters required to show i day? guest: they will not be required to show id. host: what is the system in place in the state when it comes to how the votes are tabulated? guest: optical scanners are the prevailing system in wisconsin. it has proven to be a reliable system. it has held up during three counts we have had. that is a virtue of being easy to administer and preserving a paper record. that is the system in wisconsin. we have had some close elections and we have had controversies and debates over the voting system and the intensity of the election. those will continue.

if it is a close election in 2012, anything like it was in 2004 and 2000 when the margin for president was under half of a percentage point, i am sure those margins will continue. thou shalt vote in wisconsin. that is the history of the state. to give you an example, our turnout was higher in 2004 than it was in 2008, partly because barack obama opened up a lead. it was still action in high. in 2004, we had almost three- quarters of voting age adults vote in the state. the numbers were higher if you were looking at those eligible to vote. in some parts of the state when

turnout was higher, we are talking about 85% or 90% of registered voters to voted. that is part of the political culture of even in not a central races, we have seen extraordinary turnout. we have had remarkable turnout for governor in the recall fight. we had a state supreme court race this spring, a non-partisan race on a spring ballot in which the turnout was fired that in some states for governor in 2010. host: state of wisconsin, a battleground state and one of the focuses of us here on c- span. craig gilbert joins us as the national political reporter and washington bureau chief for the milwaukee journal sentinel. 2025853880 for democrats.

we have set aside a special line for those of you who live in the state of wisconsin. give us a call. craig gilbert, where do each of the candidates stand when it comes to the state? guest: it is a close race. not quite. if you average of the polling, president obama has a two point or three point lead. we have not had new polling in the last week. the phrase in the public polling merrill's. it has -- the race in the public polling varies. the lead was of santo in the first part of the -- su bstantial in the first part of

the year. it opened up after the convention when president obama thought this convention bounce. you saw a lot of narrowing here and in other states. in the context of the battle ground, we are one of the states for president obama among the 8 or 9 states being contested. there is a potential fire wall for president obama as you look at ohio, wisconsin, nevada, and iowa. half of the states are close. we are seeing the eighth years republican effort to lift wisconsin. -- we are seeing a fight on the republican side to lift wisconsin. mitt romney b.o.p. here monday.

president obama will be here to stay and -- mitt romney will be here monday and president obama will be here tuesday. it is an interesting debate over what the recall told us about the presidential election. you can overstate the results. it was pretty clear in the recall fight that some voters work voted against the recall process. they did not think it was appropriate. you had an exit poll from the recall in june and 15%-20% of the people voted for scott walker said they favored barack obama as president. it has been pretty consistent

that 1/10 of the electorate, 9% or 10% say they approve of scott walker and barack obama. he becomes was the perfect barometer. republicans have had success winning elections in the last entry years in wisconsin. they have a motive database that will turn out. they also have paul ryan on the ticket. both sides have reasons and positive indicators to look at going into this election. most recently, the obama victory in 2008 and the republican victories in 2010 and 2012. host: new berlin, wisconsin. you are on the line. go ahead. caller: can you explain?

you would have to rotate for romney or otherwise you would be fired. guest: the message was not voted for round or you will lose your job. he message was, -- so it was taken by some employees, obviously, as that kind of -- as kind of an inappropriate at a minimum. and so we had some reaction to that, obviously.

host: the president will draw the turnout, the public unions drew for the recall. guest: this is a presidential election and we know the history of president dedges elections as the people turn out. the real question is i think i get that whether there will be some sort of enthusiasm gap between the two sides. and i think we'll just have to wait and see. it's my feeling the turnout will be high on both sides. that's been the history. we saw that in 2004. we had a series of elections in wisconsin and nationally where one side has been more energized an another. in 2010 wrbles were more energized. in 2008 democrats were more energized. it's not going to be as dramatic a disparate in the election -- disparity in the election. both sides will be motivated. in wisconsin in particular it's a date where both sides have proven their ability to turn out their vote.

i don't doubt that turnout will be there on both sides, whether one side had a little bit of an advantage in that. we'll just have to wait and see. guest: here is josh from greenwood, maine, good morning. guest: how you doing? my question was, how does craig feel about the 14 members of the the senate or house or whatever of represent -- representatives, of wisconsin, when they left the state on the vote there? how does he feel about that? and if you don't mind me, i wanted to try to get a hold of you for the first call, the gender issue. the 60-year-old lady who got pretty graphic there, that's fine. i had a son when i just turned 18. he was a month old when i graduated from high school. and he is 28 now. beautiful, beautiful son. i feel bad because there's

definitely some issues with the lady. guest: josh, we'll leave it there. craig, go with the first part of the guest: he's referring this fight we had over the recall when governor walker produced a bunch of proposals and proposed, basically, rolling back collective bargaining for public employees, and the tactic the democrats used to try to stop that from happening was a bunch of legislators left the state to prevent the quorom and camped out in illinois. and then you had the protest and controversy and that led to the recall. i don't have any personal feelings about that one way or the other. that was kind of part of the debate. republicans were outraged about it just as democrats were outraged about the proposal the governor made. that kind of really set on both sides the intensity of this fight. we are a very polarized state. certainly the public polling about governor walker, who has a

positive approval rating and most of the polling now, not hugely positive, but positive since all this happened, but one of the features of his standing has been just fierce polarization. democrats almost universally disliking him. republicans almost universally approving of him. so very divided state in a lot of ways. it's not a new thing. we had the same thing in 2004 in the bush-kerry election. it's new to have that level of polarization about a governor. so we are starting to see it filter down to state races where people just line up by party. those lines are very hard. we are seeing it in the senate race as well. host: what's the sentiment about paul ryan in wisconsin? guest: i think he's both -- i think both are some good will in the sense that he's a hometown guy. it's unclear how much of a boost that gives the republican ticket in wisconsin either in his

district or statewide. clearly it's worth something, but the polling sort of suggests that it's kind of on the margins. as he's become better known, like anybody else, he also becomes more polarizing. so you've got that happening as well. i think it's one reason why republicans are -- feel like they have a shot in wisconsin it's because they've got a wisconsinin tefment on the ticket. you would think it can't hurt. he did give the ticket a bounce after he got selected, it's not clear right now from the surveys how much of a bones that amounts to. -- bonus that amounts to. host: greendale, wisconsin. democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm calling because a lady previously was talking about the news report about this company that was going to take away the

people's benefits, etc. i, too, have heard of a company here in milwaukee that has come out and told its employees that if they do not vote for romney and obama gets in, that next year they will not be getting any raises. and i called the d.a. office here and he wants the name of the fellow that said this, and i will not give it out because i don't want the young man to get fired. i wonder how many companies are doing this in this state? i know you are a republican, "the milwaukee journal" are they checking into any of this business? host: to the larger question, businesses in wisconsin and how they reacted to either leader as far as their proposals are concerned. guest: i guess it might be news to some republicans that a -- we

are a republican paper. but as far as the question about what's going on in some of these companies, we have reported this one case that we talked about earlier, and we would report any other case that we become aware of. as i understand it there is a state law that speaks to this. that prohibits companies from basically trying to tell their employees how to vote, as i understand it. i think i read recently about a similar case in michigan. the one in wisconsin we discussed is the only one i am aware of at this time. there may be others. i don't know. host: a tweet for you saying has the u.s. senate race in wisconsin helped or hurt either party at the presidential level or vice versa? for those who aren't following could you expand and talk about what this race is. guest: we have a senate race,

it's an open seat. a democrat is retiring, he was in office -- first selected in 1988. the democratic candidate is the congresswoman from madison, tammy baldwin. the republican candidate is the former health secretary, tommy thompson. it's quite a race. it's really been a race in which it surprised a lot of people because former governor thompson was seen as the favorite. he was seen as the candidate that had a history of attracting moderates and conservative democrats and independent voters and crossover voters. it was felt that he was somebody that could carry the state for republicans even if republicans lost at the top of the ticket. what's happened in the polling is interesting. the people that -- his crossover support has diminished. i alluded to this yerl as this race has hardened along party lines, he's kind of had tough republican primary he barely squeaked through.

there was a period of time after the primary he was out of money and the democrats went up with a lot of advertising and drove up his negatives. and tammy baldwin emerged as the frontrunner in that race. it's tightened up again since then. it's a close race. tammy baldwin has been ahead in more polls than behind but extremely competitive. nobody knows what's going to happen. it's also gotten pretty neglect tifment virtually all the advertising you see in this race is negative. it's even in tone it's taken an edgier turn in the last week. they have been exchanging dueling ads over 9/11, believe it or not. the interesting thing in this race, i think, is what the impact of the presidential race will be on the senate race. it's obviously the better democrats do at the top of the ticket, the better it is for tammy baldwin, and the better republican, mitt romney does, the better it is for tommy thompson. whether tommy thompson can overcome a romney loss is an

interesting question. most people think he'll get a better percentage of the vote than romney, but by how much we just don't know. it's an extremely competitive race. and obviously big national implications because the control of the senate is in the balance. host: rice lake, wisconsin, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. pedro, i think this is an important phone call. i want to alert the american people to an author, i watch "book tv" on c-span. i recommend everybody to be watching it on c-span on weekends and other times. and you can go on the internet and see it. there's an author, his name is mallry factor, he wrote the book "the shadow bosses" i chal -- challenge everybody to read the book to seat interview on book

tv. it is so important to understand. also -- i'm from wisconsin. i don't care if obama is black, purple, pink, whatever. what i care about, the most important thing i care about, is what he's doing to our country. he has taken the people who are in charge of the airports, he's taken homeland security -- all these people are unionized. even military personnel are unionized. host: caller, thanks. viewer in clarksville, tennessee. go ahead. go ahead. caller: i'm sorry. good morning. i was going in to say that mr. romney wants nothing. he's just running for president for power. if he is elected, we will go back to being barefoot and

pregnant and the states, as they are going right now, are going to start becoming small countries if power is given to them. and people in the south will say the rise again of us moving towards a civil war type situation. host: before we talk to you, we want to talk about gender issues. she mentioned things along that line. do social issues, gender issues, whatever factor into voting there in wisconsin? guest: sure. like anywhere else they go into i think the way people line up in both parties. and that's -- i don't foe if it's any true or less true in wisconsin than any other state, but they are part of the debate here, sure. host: huntington beach, california. our independent line. ken, you're on with craig gilbert of the "milwaukee journal sentinel"." host: you're on, sir. go ahead.

caller: i wasn't sure because you didn't list it properly. this is chad. host: you're on now. running out of time. caller: i just wanted to mention real quick i think there's a problem with this country. what i mean by that is everybody looks at romney from the standpoint of the man as a builder. he's not a builder. he's a dismantler. and anybody that's familiar with construction fully realizes that it's all together. it's very rare that you find somebody good at building that's excellent at dismantling. where that's a problem is he plans to dismantle social security, the health care plan, roe vs. wade, and anything to do with any tie to any unions. i would like everybody that's out here in california to pay attention to proposition 32 because what they are trying to do is they are trying to take away the ability of unions to negotiate with the c.e.o.'s and

with big business. host: we'll leave it there. i asked you about the senate side. are there any interesting races of note to you on the house side? guest: there are three races to look at. i think all involving republican incumbents and all of which -- in which the republican incumbents are favored to win. one of the them is paul ryan's own race. we have this odd situation where he's on the ballot for vice president and on the ballot for first congressional district in southern wisconsin in congress. he's spending money, about $2 million on re-election campaign. he's running ads. his opponent has been able to raise money nationally because he's running against paul ryan and he's running ads. paul ryan is the favorite to get re-elected in that race, but it's an interesting situation. we've got two republican freshmen, one in the green bay area, reid ribble, and up in the north, dave obey's old seat in

northern wisconsin, sean duffy. they both have contested races. they are both favored to win but they are contested races and they have been targeted by the national parties at different times in this election. so those are -- that's also part of the picture. it hasn't gotten as much attention as the senate race and presidential race, and we also have a battle for the state legislature, control of the legislature as well. we have a full ballot in wisconsin. host: craig gilbert, finally if someone were to say to you what should i watch for, out of wisconsin, on election night, what would you say to them? guest: watch for the turnout. i think it will be sky-high. two big marquee races for senate and president. i'm going to be interested to see what the interplay is or whether they are cookie cutter images of each other because of how polarized and nationalized these elections have become. or whether we get split outcomes in the two races. and whether we get an election that's much more like 2000 and

2004 in wisconsin at the top of the ticket which was decided by less than half a percentage point in both cases, or whether wisconsin ends up performing in the end a little better for democrats than their national numbers, which has also happened on occasion. wisconsin swings back and forth between those two patterns. those are some of the things i'll be interested in watching. host: not only does our guest cover national politics for his publication but he serves as their washington bureau chief. thanks for your time this morning. two perspectives coming from wisconsin coming your way. brian schimming up first of the republican party in wisconsin. later on wheel be joined by mike tate. we'll get their remember spective what's going on in wisconsin. washing journal continues after this. -- "washington journal" continues after this.

>> one of 10,000 homes that they are trying to get done in the next four years over the course of four years, these are houses that are never coming back. >> not right now, no. one family every 20 minutes moving out. >> going back to the prairie and he's disappearing in the landscape. >> 90,000 ready to go. >> actually, 164 firefighters were laid off as part of this sort of downsizing, as mart of this effort for mayor bain to get the finances under control. firefighters which detroit needs because it must have the highest case ofarson in the country, -- of arson in the country, these guys are laid off. two weeks later mly 100 guys are

retired. the money came from the department of homeland security as a fund for things like that. i don't want to overstate, but i was -- that's something you want to think about. the department of homeland security, it had stepped in to keep detroit as safe as it can be for the moment. it could be a lot safer. we are talking about -- i wonder, and i wonder making this film, we have seen the auto industry bailout. we have seen the bank bailout. are we heading into an era of bailouts a city? is there such a thing as a failed city? >> more with "detropia" heide ewing on c-span's q and s. book tv stops in austin, texas, for the live coverage of the 17th annual texas took it's festival, saturday. leather from david weston on his 13 years in the network news

business. douglas brinkley on the late news anchor, walter cronkite. and texas native l.b.j. and lady bird johnson >> the texas book festival live this weekend on book tv on c-span2. "washington journal" continues. host: look at the battleground state of wisconsin as part of an ongoing series that we are doing here at "washington journal." we'll take 10 battle ground steaks in over 10 days we'll bring you not only what's going on as far as the ground game is concerned, but also kind of get in perspectives on partisans as well as we set up to talk about wisconsin. wanted to give you the full line. if you wanted to talk about

wisconsin specifically, maybe add it to the general election overall, here's how you can do so. 202-585-3881, those of you who are registered as republicans. 202-585-3880 for democrats. 202-585-3882 for independents. if you live in wisconsin and want to give a specific perspective on your state. give us a call at 202-585-3883. remember we have specialized that line for those of you who live in the state of wisconsin. we are going to take up that conversation in just a minute. a couple perspectives for those of you watching election nationaly. democrats line, new jersey, good morning. new jersey, are you there? caller: hello? host: is this bonnie? caller: yes. host: go ahead. caller: i'm not -- i was just

calling on the heels of the last guest you had, and their rising son there, paul ryan, i really resent when he said government doesn't make jobs. government made his family's fortune. he speaks often about when his father died he received death benefits and social security and that's what got him through school. what got him through school was a company that his family started in the 1800's that built roads for the government. that's how he became a very, very wealthy man. for him to create a budget that cuts the department of education , that cuts the chip plan, that cuts preschool, the preschool program, that cuts everything that sustains the working of people, that gives them a hand up in times when they are in need, yeah, loss of a father is

a tragic event in any child's life, but he had the financial support. doesn't he have any feelings for those that are in that situation without the means? and this -- host: let's move on. los angeles, california, independent line. tim, hello. caller: hi, yes. thank you. i just wanted to get something off my chest. i get so angry every time i hear people ask what is probably the most meaningless of this politically meaningless question, of, are you better off now than you were four years ago? it's totally pointless. the actual question should be are you better off now than you would have been with john mccain and sarah palin, that would make sense, we can't know that. host: what's the difference between the questions? caller: the difference is that you don't -- you don't ask questions in a vacuum.

you want to compare how you are now four years later than how you would have been if mccain and palin had gotten in. host: you're actually basing that on something we wouldn't know for sure, though. caller: that's what i'm saying. that's why i said it's an absurd question to say are you better off? because you have no basis of comparison. host: how would you answer your own question as far as being better off concerned? caller: how would i answer it? i'm -- i guess i'm better off, but, you know -- but again i don't know what the opposite would have been. host: that's los angeles, california. we focus back on wisconsin, taking a look at that as a battleground state. brian schimming joins us from milwaukee. he's the vice chairman of the republican party of wisconsin. there is a map and there's mr. schimming. our previous quest talked about in 2008 the president won by a significant lead. now a narrow lead. what do you think happened in that time frame? >> we have had a very good

couple years here in wisconsin. not unlike the rest of the country, 2006 and 2007, it was kind of a democrat sweep. here in wisconsin in 2010 we won the governorship away from the democrats, and of course elected a republican u.s. senator, ron johnson, and picked up two congressional seats, the eighth and third. swept control of the legislature. so we have had a very, very good year in 2010. frankly we have had kind of a switch in this state. i think what the national economic situation as it is, it's hit wisconsin hard, and you saw that reflected in the polls. in the gubernatorial race, now you are seeing it here in the presidential race as well. host: as far as mitt romney is concerned, what does he have to do to secure the state? guest: really at this point, we have been through so much here in wisconsin, as you know, we had recall elections in the last two years, in the legislature. and with the governor's race. and the governor successfully fought off that recall.

won by a bigger margin, governor walker did, than in his first race. so we have a lot of momentum here. a lot of it right now is making the final sale, but also turnout here in wisconsin. republicans said we have probably -- not probably, we do have the best ground game we have had in wisconsin in my 25 years of working politics here. we have 25 offices opened statewide. we have hit 2.6, almost three million doors. almost three million calls. we have had hundreds of thousands of doors. we are organized here in wisconsin like we never have been, and we come in with momentum after governor walker's successful recall. so we are feeling pretty good. host: as far as the state itself is concerned, are there areas of the state where you are concentrating on over others? >> here in wisconsin a good share of the vote is kind of between the green bay to milwaukee to madison triangle.

that's about 70% of the state's vote. so oftentimes presidential candidates, on both sides, focus on that area, but we have active campaigns in all 72 counties. republicans generally do well statewide when we do well in the suburbs, kind of the collar around milwaukee and in the fox valley, and match the democrats person for person upstate. one of the things that governor walker's successful election did, we had victories, republican victories, in counties where frankly we haven't won in a long time in this state. we saw numbers coming out of that recall we have never seen before. and following those numbers we have gotten organization and volunteers and all of that. even before paul ryan was on the ticket, frankly, it was a couple point race here in wisconsin. and with paul ryan's addition on to the ticket, we are as optimistic as we can be. host: chairman of the republican party of wisconsin joins us,

brian schimming, for wur discussion continuing look at the battleground state. our first call for him is milwaukee. on our democrats line, doris, good morning. caller: good morning. i'd like to just say milwaukee -- we have children that graduated from high school that does not have any medical care. they go to -- apply for the meddal care and they tell them these are two-year wait. these are children who finished high school, honor roll students, and they have no insurance because they do not honor the obamacare. host: as far as its relation to this election, what's your question? caller: i have many questions. i'd like to ask comments also about how these--they tell the children, we tell our kids about acting how they act. it's a shame how they disrespect president obama. it's a shame how they disrespected bush when he was in

office when they threw his shoe. host: mr. schimming, any take away from that? guest: i think both sides could agree the politics haven't gotten any more beautiful, that's for sure. with respect to the romney campaign and the thompson for senate campaign here, this is a campaign about the country's future. wisconsin we have lost just under 100,000 jobs under president obama. we talk about things that affect families, affect neighborhoods and health care and jobs, wisconsin really has suffered as much as almost any state with the loss of those jobs and the slowdown in economic activity. it's punishing the working people of this state. what i would say to you in general terms is that we need a better economy. we need to have more jobs. we need to have a better future. so everybody's future is going to get better when this economy gets back on its feet, and if not, 43 months of over 8% unemployment, that doesn't help

working people, it doesn't help anybody. we have to turn that around. that's what governor romney is focused on. host: chris in alabama off twitter. he says, we have never had a less transparent presidential candidate. if yet he is positioned to win. frightening. >> having introduced romney a couple times, he's anything but that. will i tell you this, you talk about transparency, mitt romney's economic plan, his plan for the future, has been on his website for months. one of the comical things about the last debate is the president -- this is a sitting president who suffered 8.3% unemployment, millions of people out of jobs, home foreclosures at a record rate, the list goes on and on, he presented his plan for the future, not in the debate, but in a 20-page document that he released after the debate, essentially two weeks after the election.

what kind of transparency is that? mitt romney and paul ryan have been out with plans for months, real, live workable plans for months. have been doing town halls talking about the details of those things. one thing we have learned in wisconsin when, scott walker inherited the governorship, he inherited a $3.6 billion budget deficit in this state. le it i have been working around state government for a while. it's the worst economic and budget situation. i have never seen a governor have to nharet of either party. one of the things that he did, and that i appreciate about what mitt romney and paul ryan are doing, is talking straight to the people about what the issues are that are facing this country. you don't have to be republican or democrat to know, we have big problems. the question i think that folks have to face here in this election is who is providing that path into the future that's going to solve some of those problems? and mitt romney and paul ryan have been talking about them. host: from newport richie, florida.

republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning, mr. schimming. hello, pedro. i haven't called in a while. i'm nervous. tomorrow morning at 7:00, early voting opens here in florida. i'm in the tampa bay area. and i would like to ask you a couple of things about mitt romney. i'm edging towards him. i have been -- i understand that gender was the question this morning, as i understand obama did sign into law, what is it, the -- low pressure lily ledbetter act? caller: i like that. but he also signed the lesbian and gay transgender thing into the military. we have a very high rape incident in the military. and i'd like to know, because of gender issues, how mitt romney stands on that? my next question is -- host: we'll have to leave it at

that. mr. schimming, if there is something you want to take from that. guest: that's kind of a multiprong question. i think what i would tell you with respect, what we have seen here in the polling, i think really after the first debate, certainly with the two debates, is that the women -- what we have seen with -- in just talking in focus groups and thousands of people on the street, the kinds of issues that all people are worried about, but women are worried about, are economic ones. look, this economy has punished women worse than it has anyone, really. hundreds of thousands of people out of work. the punishment to women has been terrible in this economy as a way to help all voters, and women voters as well, and that is to get the economy back on its feet. that's what the election's about. we can get chased off on all sorts of side issues, but

ultimately for everyone -- all these issues are important. obviously what she's saying. all these issues are important. but the -- one of the reasons we have seen the quote, gender gap narrow to nothing, if not mitt romney, is that the important issues facing women today are the ones the governor and congressman ryan are addressing. that's why the fabled 16 or 18-point gender gap is almost advantage romney. it's a problem for the president. host: this is camden, new jersey. denise, good morning. democrats line, hello. camden, new jersey. hello. let's go to greg in retchfield, wisconsin. hello. caller: hello. thank you for c-span. i would like to opponent out a couple things to my democratic friends about the republican party that are being used as scare tactics. republicans like clean water.

we want no pollution. we want jobs. we want better education. i'd also like to point out that what has happened with fast and furious, the keystone pipeline these are gigantic issues that i feel the democrats are being very hypocritical about in the fact that they are letting president obama slide with them along with a lot of other issues. i'm asking the democrats to open up your eyes and look at things objectively. host: the issues he listed, mr. schimming, what would you make of those? >> i agree with him on all things. certainly with respect to the keystone pipeline. the president, listening to him debate, he made it sound like he's a supporter of the keystone pipeline, he's not the supporter of the keystone pipeline. that's tens of thousands of jobs for working people across several states. in middle america. that one i just don't understand from the president.

particularly the case -- to listen to the president, you think he would a support -- was a supporter of energy exploration and development at home. he's been the most hostile to energy exploration of any president we have had of either party. he talks about increasing oil production in america. it's been done on private lands, not on federal lands. so this is probably -- interestingly, this is probably one of the biggest issues, i think, that the country faces. if we truly want to be independent of foreign sources of energy, we can do it. we have all the resources we need here in america. the question s. are we going to go ahead -- the question is, are we going to go ahead and do what we need to do to be independent? the president has not been doing it. mitt romney well. host: correct me film' wrong. were the republicans in the state that decided to confine early voting to a smaller period this year of two weeks or so?

guest: early voting in wisconsin, at least in-person voting, will finish a week from today, actually. it will be a week from today. early voting started this past monday and will finish a week from today. but absentee ballots will be accepted up until after the election. we made some commonsense changes in the elections law here because wisconsin has a different state. we don't have a statewide voters list here in wisconsin. you have to go out and get it in all the counties. and which is was also -- wisconsin also has a huge number of local government. wisconsin is about 5.35 million people. we have about 1,850 local units of government. so there's a lot of bureaucracy there. so we put some commonsense changes into place to try to bring order a little bit to. so elections. look, acorn and some of those

groups don't like it, but the voters consistently, and also in the voter i.d. bill, 71% of the people in wisconsin want add voter i.d. bill. we gave it to them. and now it's caught up in the courts. host: patty from houston, texas, good morning. democrats line. caller: yes. how are you all doing this morning? host: fine, thank you. go right ahead. caller: i'm going to ask this gentleman here, i'm in houston and i'm going to ask him if romney was so good with jobs, why don't he have plants and everything there, if he's so good with jobs and everything, he can count that. president obama has presented a lot of jobs. so many, so many months, and also with his republican house, he could have been -- instead of going -- talk more of the

republican party stood up the whole country and the democrats all is because -- i'm a senior citizen here, and whoever would do the best for everybody, i would have voted for them. but you have to just think about romney. you said that romney had a plan with jobs. i have been listening to all of it coming up and he haven't had anything. he haven't create no jobs. and president obama has. he has a layout for that. host: we'll let our guest -- guest: with all possible respect, the president had a much lower unemployment rate when he took over and it's gone to over 10% in his administration and it's kind of platened out above 8%. the -- flattened out above 8%. the president is not doing very well with jobs with all due respect to you. the president had, the first two years of his term, with veto proof majorities in both the

house and senate, and he wasted his time in the first two years of office. instead of foe ke cussing on the economy -- focusing on the economy, he did a stimulus bill which has not helped the contry, number one. but number two, he wasted his time putting obamacare into place. we need health care reform, but we don't need obamacare. all the polls told him that whole time, the whole two years, they still do, that the country didn't want obamacare and he and the democratic party in the house and senate forced it down our throats. with respect to jobs, this president seven times, hattie, seven times has turned down the opportunity to make china a currency manipulator. china's stolen two million jobs out of america, along with intellectual property as well. we need a president who is going to stand up to china. frankly just chart a path beyond china, chart a path to go into the future. host: milwaukee, on our

independent line for our guest, brian schimming, of the republican party of wisconsin. go ahead. caller: good morning. i'm in wisconsin and i'm only 21 years old so i'm a young voter and new to all of this. i listen to the question about that you were just saying about obama when the -- with the democracy and some of the -- i'm sorry. the caller about the -- host: caller, you're going to have to rephrase and expand on that. caller: with the insurance thing, we as young people we don't listen to every single thing that comes up, but i didn't have my tv for the last couple days, just trying to make a good decision and who do i want for president.

host: as far as those issues, your decisionmaking, how would you list them as far as one, two, three? what are your main issues? caller: well, my main issue is, the health care issue, because a lot of my people are older people. the second thing i'm listening is -- listing is i don't like the things that romney is going to do with the pbs kids, i'm a new dad so my kids are watching pbs. he wants to cut a lot of funding, which is fine with me, but which funds really should be cut? host: mr. schimming, in light of his issues, specifically, what -- do you have a sense of voters in wisconsin that maybe be that first time voter or perhaps those would identify themselves as independent and still deciding who they are going to vote for? guest: they have been swinging mitt romney's way, especially since the first vote. there is a couple reasons for that. number one, if you're a young

person, you go to college or tech school or you are looking for some kind of higher education outside of high school, particularly if you're coming out of kohl lemming right now, you have a one in two chance of being unemployed or underemployed when you come out of college because the opportunities are not out there for people like our caller, if they were to come out of college or school today, every extra point in unemployment means a couple thousand dollars -- several thousand dollars in lost income over your career. so to have a high unemployment -- a place like milwaukee, the biggest urban area, milwaukee in wisconsin is about 600,000 people, especially in a city like milwaukee to take the punishment that they have taken from the overwhelm bama economy and economic policy -- obama economy and the economic policies in the last four years that punishes people like our caller which is the importance of changing course here. i believe -- believe me i hear what he's saying. i used to run a program in

wisconsin also in milwaukee that used employment and training. i faced many of these issues in urban areas. it's a punishment. we have to turn the economy around. the president has failed. i think one of the things to come out of the debate since the last debate, the president has failed on every economic metric out there. it's just -- it's complete failure. at some point you got to make a decision, a kitchen table decision, about what the future looks like. that goes for the last caller and any ones before. host: the previous caller also identified herself as a senior citizen. what's the state makeup of that group? and how does it factor especially in considerations like social security and anything of that eshoo? guest: the question will be, where are we going to go forward in the future? are we going to reform it to save it? or are we going to stay on the democrats' current path, which is bankrupting the system?

i say folks, we always kind of kick the can down the road. the can's gotten too big anti-road too short. frankly we have to face some of these issues. that's why mitt romney and congressman ryan are not afraid to face them. the president's trying to get re-elected. look, he won wisconsin by 14 points four years ago. he's hanging on for dear life here now. it's not just wisconsin. it's across the country. you see that trend towards mitt romney among -- particularly, actually, among seniors and under voter groups for that reefpblet host: here is hazelton, maryland. this is mike on our republican line. hazelton, maryland, are you there? hazelton, north dakota. go ahead. caller: there you go. my question s. i have been -- my question is, i am 50 years old and worked 30 years in this environment and i never

struggled for a job. we got thousands of people from wisconsin out here working. saving their livelihood, save their families. president obama wants to take away hydraulic fracturing after he's re-elected. and the coal industry. i'd like to hear your thoughts. guest: i think you have a good right to be nervous. the president obviously was a little deceptive during these debates here. you think he was for tracking and the keystone pipeline. all these issues. but frankly you got to judge the president not by what he said in these debates. you got to judge him by his record. the president needs to -- it the president spent $400 million, kind of trashing mitt romney, before the first debate. and trying to build up people's negatives about mitt romney. that disappeared in about 10 minutes in the first debate. and we have seen that now all across the country. for folks like you in north

dakota, but frankly in all the states, you got to look at these two candidates and say, who is really going to get us to energy independence? you look at the president's record. he clearly will not. host: green bay press gazette this morning reports that the president is slated to appear in wisconsin next tuesday, vice president biden appears today. has there been any stops by mitt romney or paul ryan this week? guest: just before i came on air here it was announced that governor romney will be here in the milwaukee area on monday as well. paul ryan will be in midweek next week. the vice president is in a couple cities here in wisconsin today. i think wisconsin's reflecting, as we know, it's down to seven or eight states now, and wisconsin, the situation in wisconsin is reflecting what happens not only in the closing days of a campaign where the number of states shrinks, but

the president's desperation in wisconsin. it's a state that freaningly he won by a land slide four -- landslide four years ago. host: what are you going to be watching for election night? guest: i think the usual turnout in different areas of the state. democrats and republicans are kind of watching the same areas around the state. as i say our ground game here in wisconsin has been phenomenal. lights out. we have been very, very excited. it's great to have paul ryan on the ticket. we are excited about that. but our ground game here has been phenomenal. even better than we had in the recall. scott walker in that recall, if successful beating that recall back, carried areas of the state of republican has not carried in a long ty. we are looking to extend some of those victories. host: brian schimming serves as the vice chairman of the republican party of wisconsin

joining us from milwaukee. thanks for your time this morning. guest: so good to be with you. host: we'll get another perfect spective. mike tate the chairman of the wisconsin democratic republican get us perspective on election day. we'll get a look at wisconsin later on as our look at american by the number series. this time around we'll look at housing in the united states. those topics coming up on "washington journal." >> i think that we have to have the discussion about political ideology here in this country. when we talk about progressivism and where it came from. i think it's very easy to talk about communism, markism, socialism, and modern day statism it's principles of governance is what's separating this country. as far as what happened with the comment with goebbels, someone came up to me in the speaker's lobby, how do you feel about the fact that the majority of americans believe that the only people on capitol hill are

republicans? and all i said was that us perss a propaganda machine out there, obviously operating, that goebbels could be proud of. i thought we lived in america where there was freedom of speech and expression. i'm not going to be afraid of people because they get upset. >> the reason i got into this, the reason i decided to run for public office is because of the extremism of the teaff party. that's no way to move the country forward. at the end of the day, whether it's your family, business, you got to be able to work across the aisle and do what's best for all americans. do what's best for your district, for your state, for your country. when you are spending your time calling people communist or comparing them to nazis and marxists, that's no way to get things done. look, at the end of the day, we've got to find compromise and make the tough decisions in our country right now. when you are more focused on that, there is no way we can reach across the aisle and do what's best for everybody. >> follow the issues and candidates in key house, senate, and governors races on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org/

campaign2012. >> the early going for the americans and for the british, we are were not very propitious. during the very first days of that pacific war after december 7, the japanese would occupy singapore. they would defeat -- they would occupy the philippines in american possession, the east indies where they were receiving about 40% of their oil. they needed that oil to continue the war, ok. so they occupied these areas. and by the same token, the americans and the philippines were not own defeated by the japanese, but in many ways humiliated by the japanese. there is the bataan death march. 76,000 prisoners it says, about 11,000 of them are americans. 7,000 of them would die in the 60 mile, 70-mile march they were forced on. the way in which they were treated was nothing less than brutal. this wasn't war atrocity stories, this is the real thing.

the japanese beheaded many of them. tossed many of them into the path of oncoming tanks. many of, many of those american soldiers and of course the filipinos who are joining them died of starvation. this was war in its worst form, ok. the americans are not going to forget that. they are going to pay the japanese back. in fact i would make the point right now that the war in the pacific was in many ways a racial war. it became a racial war. the japanese mistreated the americans, and the americans in turn -- they would turn the -- return the favor. >> this weekend in lectures in history world war ii with professor gary ostower on c-span3's american history tv. "washington journal" continues. host: if you have been joining us on this program you know that over the exnext -- days leading up to election day we'll take a

look at what are known as battleground states. you can see there on the screen. today we are focusing our attention on wisconsin. joining us to give perspective on what's going on in the ground there, mike tate of the wisconsin democratic party. he serves as their chairman. and he joins us from milwaukee. mr. tate, welcome this morning. guest: good morning. host: let's start where i started with mr. schimming in 2008 when the president had a significant lead when it came to wisconsin. what happened in that time? what does it mean for him now? guest: i think what happened in 2008, we saw a huge historic wave for democrats across the country. in wisconsin, which has traditionally been one of the most competitive battleground states in the contry, we saw a big landslide for the president. i think that this year, wisconsin's a little bit more competitive. we have had a lot of travel from the president and vice president. but i do still think that this is a state where the president is ahead and where the president will win on election day. and winning wisconsin will be one of the reasons that the

president wins the white house again. host: specifically, what makes you say the president has the edge? guest: i think the president has the edge both in wisconsin and nationally because he's got many more paths, the 270 electoral votes than mitt romney does. mitt romney, if he's contesting wisconsin, has barely decided to show up here, has got a lot of ground to make up here. he's trailing in ohio. he's got to fight it out in states that the president can afford to lose where he can't afford to take a loss. i feel good about the infrastructure that's been built for the obama for america in wisconsin. we are talking about a dozen field offices. hundreds of thousands of doors knocked on. phone calls made. i think on the ground where it matters, the voter to voter contact here in wisconsin, the president's got an edge and that's why i think he's going to win. that's why i think tammy baldwin will be our next united states senator as well. host: as far as wisconsin democratic party, what's their role now? what's your role now in the days

leading up to election day? guest: we are getting out the vote. our job is to make sure we've got resources on the ground to get volunteers tout of knocking on doors, doing the phone calls, doing things we know through study and history and experience driving up our vote. so we are going to make sure that people are voting early. you can vote early up until the friday before the election. we got a strong focus on the early vote. we are going to make sure we talk to voters, about the president's positive message to move this country forward, to build this country economically from the middle out. contrasting that with mitt romney's record. it's why i think the president's going to win wisconsin. host: as far as mitt romney and other republicans have talked about the president's lack of -- plan for the next four years. the president did put one out there. what do you think of what he's proposed? is it enough? guest: can you say that again? i'm having a hard time. host: it's ok. the president just recently announced his plan for the next four years. what do you make of his

proposals for the next four years? tell us a little bit -- there's been republican criticism he didn't have a proposal up until now. guest: i think that the president's been talking about his plan and agenda for this entire campaign, quite frankly. i think that he packaged a really good booklet that people can find on the president's website. i think that it talks about investing in jobs, investing in this country, investing in education. the president inherited a pretty tough mess four years ago. the by every metric this country is getting better. things are not where they need to be, but this president has moved this country forward and he is going to continue to move this country forward in the next four years. whether it's reducing our independence on foreign oil, by growing this country from the middle out, and i believe that under the president's leadership four years from now this country will be in an even stronger place. host: vivian shepherdson of twitter says this, i find it hard believe wisconsin will go for the president when their

native son is running for the vice-presidency. it would be a big blow for the g.o.p. guest: i think not only are we going to win this state with paul ryan on the ticket, i think we'll win his congressional district. i think that having paul ryan on the ticket may have energied some movement conservatives nationally. the overwhelm thing it's done in wisconsin is expose paul ryan for what he truly s. which is having some pretty radical ideas that would end social security -- i'm soarry, end medicare, threaten social security -- sorry, end medicare, threaten social security retirement. paul ryan may be a nice guy and packers fan, but his ideas are anything but nice that should scare the living pants out of everybody in wisconsin. that's why i think -- frankly i think having -- it's going to help us win wisconsin because it's pulled the wool back on what paul ryan's ideas are. host: our guest is with us. talk about wisconsin, a battleground state.

shannon is from gillette, wisconsin on the democrats line. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i just wanted to say something about what had been -- the previous gentlemen you were talking about. he was talking about oil tracking like it was a good thing. i'm a chemistry teacher both at the high school level and college level. some of the jobs that they are going to create are going to be environmental quality jobs because that gas tracking when they use 250 chemicals in a proprietary blend we are not to know about, permanently disabled the quack whicher ifs underneath -- aquifers underneath that they are tracking. i don't like the idea we have to choose gas or water. i need to choose water every time. what i really like this gentleman speak to me about, how obama got crippled because i don't know a lot of people in my irea understand that. host: our guest is referring to the pledge that primarily republicans assigned from grove

norquist. go ahead. guest: i think the norquist pledge mitt romney took. which is grover norquist, who heads an organization out of washington, d.c., forces every republican to sign a pledge saying they will never raise any new revenue of any kind while in office. which basically handcuffs the republican party and its ability to prevent this country from moving forward. to think that this country's never going to need new revenue is absolutely absurd. frankly it's hypocritical. they don't have a problem proposing ideas that are going to raise taxes on middle class families by $46,000, but if you try to have the wealthy pay a little bit more of their fair share, then they say we signed this norquist pledge, we can't do that. it's not only hypocritical, it's something that hands cuffs the republicans from embracing a policy that would help grow this country, grow this economy, and continue to make this country a leading su